Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery

Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery is a 1997 video game developed by Gorilla Systems Corporation and published by Mattel Media for Windows. A version for the Game Boy Color developed by Realtime Associates was released in 1999, simply titled Barbie: Ocean Discovery.

Adventures with Barbie: Ocean Discovery
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)Mattel Media
Platform(s)
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
1997
Game Boy Color
1999
Genre(s)Adventure

The game was Mattel Media's first adventure game featuring the character Barbie.[1] Its financial success led to Mattel Media producing further girl's games over the next few years.[2]

Gameplay

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The PC and GBC versions are slightly different; The dolphin plays a more significant role in Windows than it does in the Game Boy Color version.[3]

Critical reception

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Entertainment Weekly felt the game was "underwhelming".[4] The New York Times thought the game's mentions of Barbie's marine biology degree was a "nod toward enlightenment" for the girl's game genre,[5] while From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games thought the game saw the series branching out from the "true pink fluff" exemplified in titles like Barbie Fashion Designer.[6] French reviewer PVG24 felt the game successfully penetrated the local market.[7]

Promotion

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In a promo with Coca-Cola for its line of Barbie Software Products for Girls during the holiday season and into 1998, Mattel Media arranged a $5 coupon for Adventures with Barbie Ocean Discovery and Barbie Magic Hair Styler inside 12- and 24-packs of Coca-Cola "Santa Packs."[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Davis, Ziff (1998-03-10). PC Mag.
  2. ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2000-02-19.
  3. ^ GARCIA, ERICA (4 July 1999). "GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN DIVE INTO AN OCEAN OF DISCOVERY WITH BARBIE". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  4. ^ "Adventures With Barbie: Ocean Discovery; Talk With Me Barbie; Rockett's New School; Zero Zero". EW.com. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  5. ^ Hafner, Katie (1998-09-10). "Girl Games: Plenty And Pink". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  6. ^ Shade, L.R. (Winter 1999). "Just add girls and stir? [review of "From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games"]". IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. 18 (4): 35–36. doi:10.1109/MTAS.2000.808847. ISSN 1937-416X. S2CID 24619138.
  7. ^ PVG24. "Barbie Ocean Discovery (par PVG24)". www.pvg24.com. Retrieved 2021-06-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Promos break for Barbie software". adage.com. 1997-11-18. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
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